Sermon Tone Analysis

Tonight, we will learn 5 principles of prayer that will help you in your prayer life.

God has principles in place for prayer that will bring him to answer you and all of us want God to answer our prayers.

Tonight we will look to James, the half brother of Jesus and draw some principles out of them that will help us all.

James is not a theorist, or a philosopher, he is extremely practical in his teaching.

In this passage he shows us three different types of people who pray.

3 types of people who pray

1.

The un asked prayer of an self reliant person

James shows ua a person who is fighting to get what they want but fails to ask God.

This person has evil desires and is scheming, fight and even willing to kill to get wha they want even though God is telling them to just ask.

James tells them you don’t have what you need because you don’t ask.

Jesus said this.

This is God’s plan.

He never wanted for you and I to do it on our own strength.

He wants us to ask him.

A little boy was trying to move a huge stone.

His daddy watched him as he struggled and pushed.

He asked him, son, are you using all of your strength?

The boy said yes daddy, I am using all of my strength to which the dad replied, no you are not because you have not asked me to help you.

Too often we are trying with all of our strength, but you need to know that God is our strength.

Have you asked him to help you?

Have you asked God to help you?

You need to quit trying and start trusting.

Not only are you missing out on a great blessing by getting God involved, but you are actually sinning.

When god puts it on you to pray and you don’t, you are sinning.

We are to never stop praying.

Jesus said we should always pray as well.

Jesus says we should always pray… and never give up until we see God’s answer.

Prayer keeps you from falling to temptation

The second picture is one of ....

2. The Unanswered Prayer of a Selfish Person

You have some folks who don’t pray because they think they can do it on their own.

Then you have the folks ask for the wrong things with the wrong motives.

I don’t think James is saying that you can’t have nice things, but he is saying that putting them ahead of your relationship with the Lord and serving Him is wrong and why your prayers are not being answered.

He actually says you make yourself an enemy of God.

When the Bible mentions “world” it’s talking about an ungodly system or culture that has set itself against God… like ours.

James actually says that being a friend of the world is like adultery.

Jesus is the Bridegroom and the church is the bride and when we are friends with the world and attach ourself to that culture, we have commited adultery against God.

What he is saying is that this world is like a prostitute that tries it’s best to steal our love for Jesus away from Him.

And, when we flirt with the world, when we run with the world, when the ambitions, ideals, and desires of the world find a lodging place in our hearts, we set ourselves at warfare with God.

Suppose a worldly Christian comes to God with un-confessed, un-repented from sin and asks God to bless them… do you think God would bless them?

No.

He cannot and will not.

Suppose a woman is cheating on her husband and comes to him, with him knowing about it and asks for some money to go out of town with her boyfriend, do you think the good husband would do that?

Of course not.

So when a worldly Christian comes to God and asks for strength and blessing from God, why should he give them strength to keep serving the devil?

He won’t.

There are the un-asked prayers of those who struggle to do it on their own.

There are the un-answered prayers of selfish person.

Then there are

3.

The Un-Hindered Prayer of a Spiritual person

Your prayers ought not to be hindered.

It ought to be normal for God to answer your prayers.

We should never be like… hey God answered my prayer… I just can’t believe it.

Answers to your prayers should be the norm.

The un-answered prayer should be abnormal.

Here are 5 principles for prayer that will help us all.

Five Principles of Prayer

I believe God has placed principles throughout scripture.

I look for principles.

When I read the OT, I look for principles but do so looking through the lens of the Cross.

1.

We must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit.

The spirit he has placed in us is the Holy Spirit.

Every saved person has the Holy Spirit of God living inside them.

Look at what Paul said.

You either have the Holy Spirit living in you or you are not a Christian.

Now, James says that God is passionate that we should be faithful to him.

He wants our full devotion.

He has every right to say that your full heart’s devotion belongs to Christ.

You are not to be a friend to this world.

You are not to commit spiritual adultery.

The Holy Spirit that is in you is put in you to cause you to love Jesus Christ passionately.

Have you allowed the Holy Spirit to cause you to love Jesus deeply?

When the Holy Spirit brings your heart’s devotion ti Jesus, when you yield to the Spirit in such a way that you don’t quench the Spirit, then you are to pray in the Spirit.

Praying in the Spirit is letting the Holy Spirit of God dictate our prayers, letting the Holy Spirit of God lead our prayers, letting the Holy Spirit of God direct our prayers, letting the Holy Spirit energize our prayers, and letting the Holy Spirit of God move us to pray.

You may also pray in a prayer language.

The very first principle of prayer is there must be a submission to the Spirit.

And, He makes prayer not a duty, but a delight.

Do you ever find it difficult to pray?

You just try to drag yourself to pray?

You have to force yourself to pray?

Do you know why that is? It’s because you are being controlled by your flesh.

Listen, the flesh doesn’t want you to pray.

Remember what Jesus said to his sleepy disciples ...

The flesh doesn’t want to pray, si if you are a worldly Christian, a carnal Christian, a fleshly Christian, you will find prayer to be a drudgery.

However if you are a spiritual person, you will find prayer to be a delight if the Holy Spirit in you is free.

If you are finding it difficult to pray, it’s because you are not surrendered filled with the Holy Spirit and if you are not filled with the Holy Spirit, it’s because you are not surrendered to the Holy Spirit and the Lordship of Jesus.

And if you have not made Jesus Lord, it’s because there is un-confessed and un-repented sin in your heart and life.

Maybe you have never commited your life to the Lord or maybe you have become enamored with the World and are guilty of spiritual adultery.

You have set yourself as an enemy of God and your prayers are not going to be answered.

There must be a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit who jealously desires your full heart’s devotion.

Is Jesus the Lord of your life?

Do you love him with your whole heart?

2. We must submit to the Father

Not only do we need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, we have to be obedient to what he tells us to do.

God resists the proud but he helps the humble.

When you are humble you come to the Lord and say, I can’t do it, I give myself to you… I submit to you.

Answered prayer is not for rebels, nor is it some way for people to bend God’s will to fit their will, nor is it an exercise where you talk God into something he would not normally do, Prayer is submitting your will to his.

Prayer is submitting your will to God’s.

This world got into a problem to begin with when, in the Garden of Eden, that first man, Adam, said: “Not Thy will, but mine be done.”

The second Adam, the Lord Jesus, in another garden said: “Not my will, but thine, be done.